Kudos to my buddy Scott Wooledge for creating this image for my booklet. I ask that you do me the favor of copying and pasting it along to your friends Facebok. I know I have driven you all crazy with the promotion of my booklet, so it's only fair that I give you an explanation of why it is so important to me.

Through 'How They See Us,' I hope to precipitate a sea change or a war of rhetoric, if you will. Yes, I said a war of rhetoric and by that I mean a knock-down, dragged out war of words. In our zeal and eagerness to strive forward, our community often forgets the things which held us back, i.e. the dark places we were shackled due to the ignorance and hatred of others.

We forget that physical violence, negative legislation often began with lies, pseudo-science, and distortions designed to appeal to both people's religious beliefs and their fears. We now laugh at the rhetoric while forgetting how powerful it was in its past naked form and how even more dangerous it is while covertly pushed. For over 30 years, the religious right created a body of lies and junk science based on fear, exploitation, and blatant lies.

And I simply can't let it go. When I was a child, I had the unfortunate chance to be seated on the front row as this rhetoric killed a loved one. He wasn't beaten to death. No one struck him physically. They just sliced at his soul with their words and actions until his spirit was extinguished. Death was the next logical step for him.

And that's why we must never forget the lies told about our community by these organizations. How many more of us had our spirit slowly extinguished because of these lies? They are responsible for so much pain, self-hatred, suicides, near suicides (including my own), and so much more vile hatred.

That's why I get angry when I see and hear folks on our side of the spectrum take this stuff lightly. To so many, particularly our children, hearing and reading this stuff without someone challenging it is the difference between life and death.

About Me

Alvin McEwen is 46-year-old African-American gay man who resides in Columbia, SC.
McEwen's blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and writings have been mentioned by Americablog.com, Goodasyou.org, People for the American Way, PageOneQ.com, The Washington Post, Raw Story, The Advocate, Media Matters for America, Crooksandliars.com, Thinkprogress.org, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, Melissa Harris-Perry, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Blade, and Foxnews.com.
In addition, he is also a past contributor to Pam's House Blend,Justice For All, LGBTQ Nation, and Alternet.org. He is a present contributor to the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,
He is the 2007 recipient of the Harriet Daniels Hancock Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2010 recipient of the Order of the Pink Palmetto from the SC Pride Movement as well as the 2009 recipient of the Audre Lorde/James Baldwin Civil Rights Activist Award from SC Black Pride. In addition, he is a three-time nominee of the Ed Madden Media Advocacy Award from SC Pride.